The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla known by the varietal name `Paris Rapa`.
The new cultivar is the product of a planned breeding program which had the objectives of creating a new hydrangea having a compact form and vigorous growth requiring little or no chemical growth regulator and with full and rich bright-colored flowers which survive periods of cool storage, remain on the plant during forcing and require little or no growth regulator.
The new cultivar was selected from a population of seedlings of unknown parentage maintained by Rampp Jungpflanzen OHG, D-8949 Pfaffenhausen, Mindelbergstrasse 7, Postfach 29, Germany. Selection was made by the breeders at Rampp Jungpflanzen OHG in 1994.
Asexual reproduction was accomplished when cuttings were taken from the mother plant and tissue cultured.
The new cultivar has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length. The following observations, measurements and comparisons describe plants pinched once in autumn and grown in 13 cm. pots in Pfaffenhausen under greenhouse conditions which approximate those generally used in commercial practice.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of the new cultivar which in combination distinguish this hydrangea as a new and distinct cultivar.
1) Intense rose colored flowers.
2) Early growth.
3) Stroable in the cold.
4) No chemical growth regulators nesessary in the early stage of cultivation nor during forcing.
5) Very suitable for growth in pots.
6) More compact than `Hermann Dienemann`, not patented.
7) Extremely high resistance to mildew.